JJ Wetherholt’s time at West Virginia may have come to an end on Saturday after No. 4 North Carolina swept the Mountaineers in the Chapel Hill Super Regional of the 2024 NCAA Baseball Tournament. If that was the close to his career in Morgantown, though, he left it well with what he had to say following the loss.
Wetherholt expressed his gratitude for West Virginia and their program after the 2-1, season-ending loss to the Tar Heels. He described it as the best span of his life and thanked everyone, from his coaching staff to his teammates, for their part in it.
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“Yeah, it has been awesome. It has been the best three years of my life,” said Wetherholt. “Just super thankful for Coach for believing in me, for my teammates for pushing me, and the entire coaching staff to just make me the player that I am today.”
West Virginia won the Tucson Regional to advance to their first-ever Super Regional in school history. Still, they came up short against UNC with a pair of close losses with an 8-6 defeat in Game 1 on Friday and the one-run one on Saturday to end their season.
“You know, wanted to win this one so bad and it’s just how the game goes sometimes. It’s a tough game,” Wetherholt admitted.
Wetherholt just finished his junior season at West Virginia. Over 145 appearances in his collegiate career, he posted 206 hits, including 29 home runs, along with 129 RBI. As an infielder, he also put up a fielding percentage of .955.
Wetherholt’s statistics earned him several honors accordingly both in their conference and nationally. He picked up recognitions as an All-Big 12 performer and as an All-American. That included last season when he was the 2023 Big 12 Player of the Year.
Wetherholt could now be one of the first overall prospects off the board come the start of the 2024 MLB Draft.
This certainly may have been it for Wetherholt as far as West Virginia and collegiate baseball are concerned. However, if it was, he has no regrets and nothing but appreciation for his Mountaineers.
“It has been unbelievable,” said Wetherholt. “All I can say is thank you to everybody who has been along for the ride.”
Randy Mazey opens up on end of coaching career: ‘These 12 years have been unbelievable’
West Virginia‘s season ended on Saturday in the Chapel Hill Super Regional and, with it, the career of long-time coach Randy Mazey did too. Mazey had previously announced he would retire after the 2024 season.
It was a sad send-off for Mazey, who was emotional in his post-game press conference thanks to how much the West Virginia community meant to him.
“I grew up, my daddy was a coal miner and we’re in a coal-mining state. That’s my background,” Mazey said. “I just really, really love the people of West Virginia. Blue-collar, hard-working. That’s how we built this program, on playing with a chip on our shoulder and being the underdog. We were again and we thrive in that atmosphere.”
That was right in line with what Randy Mazey would have expected out of his program after years building the culture.
“I’d much rather coach a program that’s an underdog than I would that’s a favorite because it’s so much fun,” Mazey said. “These 12 years have been unbelievable. I told the guys going into the season don’t try and put statistical goals on yourself. Don’t try and hit .300 or win 10 games. Your goal should be every year to exceed expectations. And we’ve done that so that’s why they should be proud.”
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